A dedication

It's Memorial Day Weekend, and our little neighborhood is overflowing with people come to celebrate the beginning of summer. But the weather isn't cooperating at all: it's cold, and gray, and damp, and looks more like November than May. Our only clue that summer's on its way is the low low tides -- and the folks who are walking out into the sound and lagoon to enjoy them.

But despite the weather, the sort of camaraderie we associate with summer is beginning, and yesterday was a delightfully social day: I got to reconnect with two good friends I hadn't seen in ages, and we spent our evening enjoying the company of two more dear friends who also happen to be neighbors.

Best of all, I got a mild surge of creative energy in the afternoon and created, not one, but THREE new goddesses. I still can't quite figure out where the impulse to do this is coming from -- and my concerns about their presentability were confirmed when we were out walking the dog and one of my neighbors said they were suggestive, and reminded him of old-fashioned corsets. So I probably won't be posting a link to them on Facebook anytime soon.

But here's my favorite of the three new ones: I call her Simplicity. Like the other two, she was created, not from old metal surfaces, but from an abstract photo of a boat -- in this case, a blue canoe tied up beside a dock next to an old red buoy. So in a way, it's a departure from the original series... but the theme is the same. And -- damn -- these are fun to build!

So I choose to think that somehow there's a light shining through them, some illumination that I can't see. And because one dear friend -- a breast cancer survivor who elected not to have breast reconstruction surgery after her mastectomy -- confessed that looking at them triggered an outpouring of grief over her loss of symmetry, I think I will dedicate my goddess series somehow to the prevention -- and to the survivors and victims -- of breast cancer. It feels like the right thing to do.

In closing -- since I've now finished Essential Spirituality, and am moving on to other readings -- I want to offer this wonderful prayer from Joyce Rupp's Prayers to Sophia:

Eternal Lamp of Love,
remind me often of how much radiance comes
from the glow of one small candle flame.
When my spiritual window is heavily clouded,
and your abiding love seems far from me,
restore my belief in your vibrant presence.
When I doubt my ability to be a bearer of your light,
shine your truth and wisdom into my faltering spirit.

Radiant Star in my heart,
in every generation you pass into holy souls.
Thank you for the illuminated beings
who have touched my life with their goodness.
Your light shining through them has inspired me and filled me with spiritual energy.

Assure me that I can also be a Light-bearer for others,
a clear window of your eternal starlight.
Stir and whirl your dynamic presence in my being.
Stream your loving kindness through me.
I will open my mind and heart to your presence
as you greet me in the unexpected and the challenging.
I, too, can make a difference in my world
because of your radiant light shining through me.
I am ready to pay the price for transparency.
May my desire for deeper union with you be realized.